I hope that those of you who choose to listen to my story-set find it enjoyable...or at least, not a burden. I welcome your comments, critiques (I can take it!), and advice. I recently read a book, “More Ready to Tell Tales From Around the World,” edited by David Holt & Bill Mooney. They say in their introduction that, “If you hear a story without giving one in exchange, then you’re reaping the harvest without sowing the seeds…As the Scots Travelers say, “Sing a story, tell a story, show your bum, or out you go.”” And (somewhat) in that vein, I look forward to listening to your stories as well (though I'll do fine without seeing your bums). Thanks for listening.
1)
Title: Tiger Soup
Link: http://uweoconnect.extn.washington.edu/p30909965/
Duration: 7:34 (I begin at the 25:44 mark, and run until 33:18)
Notes: I first read a version of this story, one of the many Anansi stories out there, as Tigertail Soup (by Melinda Munger). As I liked this story so much I searched around on the web for other versions, and I found several (including one called Tigerpenis Soup!). I opted to take the best of all of the versions I read, and make the story my own. After my digital storytelling I was told that at times I gave Anansi somewhat of a Bronx accent at times, which I suppose is a fair accusation…both my parents were raised in the S. Bronx; and while I didn’t do this consciously, I was attempting to give Anansi a voice apart from Tiger. My deepest apologies to any actual New Yorkers/Bronxers (Bronxites?) listening to this recording. No insult was intended.
2-3)
Title: Hansel & Diesel…and…The Ugly Truckling
Link: http://video.yahoo.com/watch/5095812/13520610
Duration: 14:08
Notes: These two tellings are both adaptations from books by David Gordon. I’ve read these books to my kiddos many, many times; and when the assignment for a picture book adaptation was made, I didn’t have any second thoughts about using one of these. After I began practicing Hansel & Diesel, I thought it might be fun to introduce the second story as part of a segue, and then go with it from there. Please note that the child you see in the video walking away as soon as I start to tell my story is one of my own…they had heard it so many times before that night, and they were sick and tired of it by that point! One of my daughters opted to go get snacks rather than listen to yet another telling of the same old story by mom.
4)
Title: A Story, A Story
Link: http://video.yahoo.com/watch/5136419/13607360
Duration: 6:58
Notes: Two of our classmates and myself chose to have a storytelling party to record some of our stories before a live audience. I thought beforehand about how we would kick-off this evening, and as I was thinking about this I remembered a story I had read to my own kids, “A Story, A Story” by Gail E. Haley. This is an Anansi (the spider man) story about how stories came to be on Earth. I thought that this might be a great way to begin our evening, and though I remained fairly true to Haley’s story, I did change things up a bit through my practicing. I decided that it might be a nice touch to include a globe into the beginning and ending of the story, to show both where this story came from, as well as the place where Anansi’s stories have come to today.
5)
Title: The Golden Carrots
Link: http://uweoconnect.extn.washington.edu/p36111020/
Duration: 10:15 (I begin at the 23:30 mark, and run until 33:45)
Notes: I wanted to tell a tall-tale, and I began by going through a lot of different stories I found in the library and on the web. But the one I finally settled on, “The Golden Carrots,” was written by Eric Kimmel, and I found it in an old saved copy of Cricket Magazine (June 1975 – yes, I’m quite the pack rat!). I did personalize my telling of this a bit; by setting the story in my home of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, which did in fact used to be farmland before becoming suburbanized; and also by adding other elements of my own creation. I think of all the stories I told, I had the most fun with this one. I liked doing the voices, and I think I nailed them better than on any of my other stories. It’s a fun story, and I imagine it could be told in any number of ways.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Storytelling for Families
My girls got their latest issue of "Ranger Rick" magazine today (June 2009), and inside was a spooky ghost-story, as well as some tips for budding young storytellers:
The article suggests that readers can use these tips for entertaining family & friends during upcoming summer campouts, and also for the Great American Backyard Campout on June 27th.
I like the idea of promoting family/friends storytelling. My kids have become interested in storytelling since I've been taking this course and talking to them about what I've been doing. In the last few weeks, especially since my preparation for our recent storytelling party, my girls have been busy trying to outdo one another with their own stories. And kids seem to be naturals at this, because for the most part I've found them to be not nearly as self-conscious as adults. As an example, here's a short video from the storytelling party I and two of our classmates had. One of our guests, 9-year-old Owen, told me that he wanted to tell a story too, and that he had one in mind that he wanted to share. I didn't have any idea what he was going to share with us before he began, but I think Owen did a great job...and he was certainly more at ease with telling his story than I was for mine (perhaps his more off-the-cuff, less practiced approach helped?).
So my girls and I decided to start doing storytelling nights on Wednesdays after dinner. If it works out for the three of us, and if we're enjoying it, we may decide to do this as an occasional event to do with friends. Who knows...it could turn out to be a great family tradition (and, as a bonus, if I produce future internationally-renowned storytellers, then they'll have to give me credit at the award ceremonies for beginning them on their journeys!)
"Start with something real...set your story in the place where you are...This will keep your audience guessing about whether your tale is true or not."
"Use a dramatic voice...For a spooky story, use pauses to build the suspense."
"Before you start, have the ending in mind...You can add details along the way, but it's best to know where you're headed."
"What if you don't have a story idea in mind? Start a group story instead. Go around the circle and have everyone add a line or two. The results will be ridiculous - and very funny!"
The article suggests that readers can use these tips for entertaining family & friends during upcoming summer campouts, and also for the Great American Backyard Campout on June 27th.
I like the idea of promoting family/friends storytelling. My kids have become interested in storytelling since I've been taking this course and talking to them about what I've been doing. In the last few weeks, especially since my preparation for our recent storytelling party, my girls have been busy trying to outdo one another with their own stories. And kids seem to be naturals at this, because for the most part I've found them to be not nearly as self-conscious as adults. As an example, here's a short video from the storytelling party I and two of our classmates had. One of our guests, 9-year-old Owen, told me that he wanted to tell a story too, and that he had one in mind that he wanted to share. I didn't have any idea what he was going to share with us before he began, but I think Owen did a great job...and he was certainly more at ease with telling his story than I was for mine (perhaps his more off-the-cuff, less practiced approach helped?).
So my girls and I decided to start doing storytelling nights on Wednesdays after dinner. If it works out for the three of us, and if we're enjoying it, we may decide to do this as an occasional event to do with friends. Who knows...it could turn out to be a great family tradition (and, as a bonus, if I produce future internationally-renowned storytellers, then they'll have to give me credit at the award ceremonies for beginning them on their journeys!)
Friday, May 22, 2009
Re-telling of "A Story, A Story"
Here is a link to my re-telling of Gail Haley's, "A Story, A Story." I chose to tell this Anansi story(Anansi being a spider-man and a trickster) to open up a storytelling party I took part in, as it tells the story of stories; how stories came to Earth. There are many Anansi stories in African folklore, and they are great fun to read. Based on those that I have read I think they would be great for storytelling adaptations as well.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Assignment #3
For Assignment #3, I told Hansel & Diesel, my adaptation of the David Gordon book. Here's a link to my video: http://video.yahoo.com/people/6046389
Right after the H & D story on the video is the story of The Ugly Truckling, my re-telling of another David Gordon story.
Right after the H & D story on the video is the story of The Ugly Truckling, my re-telling of another David Gordon story.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Body Language
So, as I practice my stories, I am finding it difficult to know how to use my body language...I feel awkward when standing and telling my stories. I find I am much more comfortable when I sit on the floor or on a chair as I tell my stories. I haven't yet seen any examples of storytellers doing this, but I imagine that it's okay. Any thoughts?
Thursday, May 7, 2009
My first live storytelling!
Tonight I shared my re-telling of "The Golden Carrots" on the class digital story hour. It went better than I thought it would, but man, am I glad the first one is over and done with! I suffer from intense stage-fright, and I thought that doing my first story digitally would be a good way to go before telling stories to a live, physical audience (as I'll be doing a week from tomorrow with two of my classmates and our assorted guests). But my heart started racing as soon as Jenine typed my name as the next up. I thought everyone else did wonderfully, and I loved the variety of stories told. These class story hours are great fun!
Anyway, my story can be heard on this link (I begin my story at the 23:30 mark): http://uweoconnect.extn.washington.edu/p36111020/
Anyway, my story can be heard on this link (I begin my story at the 23:30 mark): http://uweoconnect.extn.washington.edu/p36111020/
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Storytellers Critique
For our Assignment #2, that of critiquing three professional storytellers, I watched the live performances of Lawrence Howard telling "The Adventures of Huckleberry Howard," Antonio Sacre telling "Burning Feathers," and the video of Scott Baumgardner telling "Uncle Bill & OMO: A Western Tale."
Since I'm not brilliant enough to figure out how to provide a link to my Word document for this assignment, as we've been requested to do by Jenine (though if anyone can tell me how, I'd be grateful), here is my Assignment #2 in full (there's a lot of repition from my initial post below about the first two performances, but hopefuly it's more polished...I'm only sorry I had to leave so much detail out...I could've said so much more, but was already over the word limit):
-------------------------------------------------------
For this assignment I watched three professional storytellers tell their tales: the first two in a live setting, and the third on video. Lawrence Howard, performing “The Adventures of Huckleberry Howard,” and Antonio Sacre, performing “Burning Feathers,” both presented their stories at the Portland Story Theater’s 2009 Solo Performance Festival. The third storyteller, Scott Bumgardner, told “Uncle Bill & ONO: A Western Tale,” a performance found online as I followed links from the Multnomah County Library’s website of storytelling resources.
The third storyteller’s tale was eight minutes in length, while the two live performances were each about one hour long. Therefore, while it is impossible to compare the third storyteller in terms of the depth of story allowed in such a comparatively short time, I did intentionally seek out a much shorter piece so that I might gain an appreciation of the differences inherent in the short form. The other key difference I identified between the first two and the third performances is that the latter was videotaped without an audience present, which for obvious reasons, also presented a much different dynamic.
Both Howard’s and Scare’s performances were the relation of their own personal stories from particular eras in their lives. While their approaches and styles were completely different, they were both able to convey to the audience those aspects of their lives that helped to shape them into the men they have become. Howard told his coming-of-age story in a trilogy format. It began with his seventh-grade year – ranging from the bullying he endured to the lasting and seminal friendships he formed – and it culminated with his moving west at age 22. Through his folksy and comical telling he guided the audience through his adolescence, reminding us of the often painful trials of that age, as well as the ability to later in life look back on those experiences with humor and wisdom gained.
Howard began his storytelling by coming onto the stage and playing the harmonica. I felt this was a great way to capture the attention of the audience, as well as providing for a creative segue into his story. Howard also used his harmonica to transition between the first and second parts of the trilogy, but then used a series of raunchy limericks put to tune, that his family had told in attempts to one-up each other, to connect the second and third acts.
Howard’s story had a consistently conversational style about it, and he was skilled at taking his audience with him as he travelled from his New York Jewish-suburban upbringing to his early adulthood in Oregon. Howard brought his characters to life as he revisited those times; skillfully deploying the accents of, among others, the Eastern European grandmothers of his boyhood friends, the inner-city African Americans he encountered in Cleveland, and the laid-back hippy Oregonians of the 1970s he befriended at the end of his tale. Interestingly enough, Howard used one sole prop in his story, at the tail end, which I felt did nothing to enrich his story, and I wondered why he felt the need to utilize this.
Sacre's performance, while also a story from his personal life, was profoundly different from Howard's. Sacre's story was basically his recounting of his great love and the devastating demise of that relationship. His story was intertwined throughout with myth and poetry in a most powerful way, and while the audience laughed through much of his telling, there was a heavy bittersweet tone underscoring his story. Sacre did not involve the audience in his performance, nor did he utilize props, but he did engage his audience in a singularly reflective way, as he asked us at the very beginning of his tale to ponder the question: If we were given the chance to have one great love in our lives, would we take the chance knowing that this love might end? Sacre ended his tale with the same question; but the second time he asked, the impact of the question was profoundly different as we viewed it through the lens of his story.
Sacre’s style also included a great knack for finding the tone of those whom he spoke about. As the bilingual son of a Boston Irish-American mother and a Cuban-immigrant father, and as someone who has worked with inner-city kids in L.A., Sacre has an ear for the language and speech patterns of a wide variety of peoples, and I really thought this made his story stronger, as we could "hear" the people he was talking about in their own voices. Sacre had a gift for relating his empathy of others, and he was adept and sharing the desires and fears of others as he told us about their lives, and how they intertwined with his own.
Baumgardner’s short story, in deep contrast, was a western “tall-tale,” and he told this humorous tale while in cowboy dress in front of his horse corral. He had the Texas drawl and swagger necessary to tell such a story convincingly, and he was adept at giving the audience the details necessary to make us want to continue on to hear the conclusion. His story had all of the great elements of a short story; including the theatrical build-up, the dramatic details, and the sudden “punch-line” of his ending. While listening to Baumgardner’s story I appreciated that it felt less rehearsed and polished than those of Howard and Sacre, and perhaps this was part of its appeal. Since I believe that this was meant to be a folksy tale, the type to be shared among friends, Baumgardner’s informal telling was a strength in my opinion.
As a final note, I should add that I had the opportunity to speak with Howard after his performance and I asked him how long he had taken to put his story together. He told me that he spent about six months each on the three individual parts of his trilogy (which he initially told separately), and about one month putting them all together. Interestingly, he said that he just added the harmonica-segue part two days prior to the performance that I attended. While I did not have the opportunity to speak with Sacre, I did learn in his introduction that this story was one he has been telling for many years. I also noted that he added a new element to the piece, as he read from his papers for about ten minutes during the latter part of his story. I emailed him afterwards to ask him about this and he said that this is a piece that has gone through many transformations over the years, and he confirmed that he had added something new during this telling. This brought home to me the importance of fluidity in the art of storytelling, and the ability for stories to change and grow along with their teller.
Sources:
Scott Baumgardner’s “Uncle Bill & ONO: A Western Tale”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bqRnkHUFoM
Scott Baumgardner’s personal website:
http://www.texaslegacies.com/
Lawrence Howard’s personal website:
http://www.lawrencehoward.name/
Antonio Sacre’s personal website:
http://www.antoniosacre.com/
Multnomah County Library’s “Storytelling Websites”: http://www.multcolib.org/events/tales/links.html
Portland Story Theater’s 2009 Solo Performance Festival:
http://portlandstorytheater.com/
Since I'm not brilliant enough to figure out how to provide a link to my Word document for this assignment, as we've been requested to do by Jenine (though if anyone can tell me how, I'd be grateful), here is my Assignment #2 in full (there's a lot of repition from my initial post below about the first two performances, but hopefuly it's more polished...I'm only sorry I had to leave so much detail out...I could've said so much more, but was already over the word limit):
-------------------------------------------------------
For this assignment I watched three professional storytellers tell their tales: the first two in a live setting, and the third on video. Lawrence Howard, performing “The Adventures of Huckleberry Howard,” and Antonio Sacre, performing “Burning Feathers,” both presented their stories at the Portland Story Theater’s 2009 Solo Performance Festival. The third storyteller, Scott Bumgardner, told “Uncle Bill & ONO: A Western Tale,” a performance found online as I followed links from the Multnomah County Library’s website of storytelling resources.
The third storyteller’s tale was eight minutes in length, while the two live performances were each about one hour long. Therefore, while it is impossible to compare the third storyteller in terms of the depth of story allowed in such a comparatively short time, I did intentionally seek out a much shorter piece so that I might gain an appreciation of the differences inherent in the short form. The other key difference I identified between the first two and the third performances is that the latter was videotaped without an audience present, which for obvious reasons, also presented a much different dynamic.
Both Howard’s and Scare’s performances were the relation of their own personal stories from particular eras in their lives. While their approaches and styles were completely different, they were both able to convey to the audience those aspects of their lives that helped to shape them into the men they have become. Howard told his coming-of-age story in a trilogy format. It began with his seventh-grade year – ranging from the bullying he endured to the lasting and seminal friendships he formed – and it culminated with his moving west at age 22. Through his folksy and comical telling he guided the audience through his adolescence, reminding us of the often painful trials of that age, as well as the ability to later in life look back on those experiences with humor and wisdom gained.
Howard began his storytelling by coming onto the stage and playing the harmonica. I felt this was a great way to capture the attention of the audience, as well as providing for a creative segue into his story. Howard also used his harmonica to transition between the first and second parts of the trilogy, but then used a series of raunchy limericks put to tune, that his family had told in attempts to one-up each other, to connect the second and third acts.
Howard’s story had a consistently conversational style about it, and he was skilled at taking his audience with him as he travelled from his New York Jewish-suburban upbringing to his early adulthood in Oregon. Howard brought his characters to life as he revisited those times; skillfully deploying the accents of, among others, the Eastern European grandmothers of his boyhood friends, the inner-city African Americans he encountered in Cleveland, and the laid-back hippy Oregonians of the 1970s he befriended at the end of his tale. Interestingly enough, Howard used one sole prop in his story, at the tail end, which I felt did nothing to enrich his story, and I wondered why he felt the need to utilize this.
Sacre's performance, while also a story from his personal life, was profoundly different from Howard's. Sacre's story was basically his recounting of his great love and the devastating demise of that relationship. His story was intertwined throughout with myth and poetry in a most powerful way, and while the audience laughed through much of his telling, there was a heavy bittersweet tone underscoring his story. Sacre did not involve the audience in his performance, nor did he utilize props, but he did engage his audience in a singularly reflective way, as he asked us at the very beginning of his tale to ponder the question: If we were given the chance to have one great love in our lives, would we take the chance knowing that this love might end? Sacre ended his tale with the same question; but the second time he asked, the impact of the question was profoundly different as we viewed it through the lens of his story.
Sacre’s style also included a great knack for finding the tone of those whom he spoke about. As the bilingual son of a Boston Irish-American mother and a Cuban-immigrant father, and as someone who has worked with inner-city kids in L.A., Sacre has an ear for the language and speech patterns of a wide variety of peoples, and I really thought this made his story stronger, as we could "hear" the people he was talking about in their own voices. Sacre had a gift for relating his empathy of others, and he was adept and sharing the desires and fears of others as he told us about their lives, and how they intertwined with his own.
Baumgardner’s short story, in deep contrast, was a western “tall-tale,” and he told this humorous tale while in cowboy dress in front of his horse corral. He had the Texas drawl and swagger necessary to tell such a story convincingly, and he was adept at giving the audience the details necessary to make us want to continue on to hear the conclusion. His story had all of the great elements of a short story; including the theatrical build-up, the dramatic details, and the sudden “punch-line” of his ending. While listening to Baumgardner’s story I appreciated that it felt less rehearsed and polished than those of Howard and Sacre, and perhaps this was part of its appeal. Since I believe that this was meant to be a folksy tale, the type to be shared among friends, Baumgardner’s informal telling was a strength in my opinion.
As a final note, I should add that I had the opportunity to speak with Howard after his performance and I asked him how long he had taken to put his story together. He told me that he spent about six months each on the three individual parts of his trilogy (which he initially told separately), and about one month putting them all together. Interestingly, he said that he just added the harmonica-segue part two days prior to the performance that I attended. While I did not have the opportunity to speak with Sacre, I did learn in his introduction that this story was one he has been telling for many years. I also noted that he added a new element to the piece, as he read from his papers for about ten minutes during the latter part of his story. I emailed him afterwards to ask him about this and he said that this is a piece that has gone through many transformations over the years, and he confirmed that he had added something new during this telling. This brought home to me the importance of fluidity in the art of storytelling, and the ability for stories to change and grow along with their teller.
Sources:
Scott Baumgardner’s “Uncle Bill & ONO: A Western Tale”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bqRnkHUFoM
Scott Baumgardner’s personal website:
http://www.texaslegacies.com/
Lawrence Howard’s personal website:
http://www.lawrencehoward.name/
Antonio Sacre’s personal website:
http://www.antoniosacre.com/
Multnomah County Library’s “Storytelling Websites”: http://www.multcolib.org/events/tales/links.html
Portland Story Theater’s 2009 Solo Performance Festival:
http://portlandstorytheater.com/
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